Exogenous Supplementation of Nitric Oxide Ameliorates Cadmium Toxicity in Allium cepa L.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most importantnon-redox toxic heavy metal affecting the growth metabolism and reproduction. As Nitric oxide (NO) is a bioactive, multifunctional gaseous signalling molecule in plantsthat plays a key role in mediating a wide range of physiological and cytological process responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Present study was designed to investigate the effect of Cd in plants and its alleviation by exogenous supplementation of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) as NO donor. Allium cepa L. plants were exposed to different concentrations of Cadmium stress(0.40, 0.80, 1.60mM CdCl₂) withand without conditioning treatment of SNP (0.04). We evaluated with biological tests based on germination rate, seedling height, mitotic index, chromosomal aberration induced by Cd. The interactive effect of SNP and Cadmium resulted in significant increase of germination rate, seedling height, mitotic index and decrease in chromosomal aberration induced by Cd. Thus it can be concluded the exogenous supplementation of SNP provide the potential and has ameliorating effect against Cadmium induced genotoxicity in plant.